Bikie on meth charge

A BIKIE charged with trafficking speed was in the market for club clothing, not drugs, a court has heard.

The case of former Rebels club member Philip Keith Nichols will hinge upon what a jury believes he meant when he was heard ordering ``colours'' by police running a phone tapping program targeting the biker club in Tasmania.

Mr Nichols has pleaded not guilty to one count of trafficking in a controlled substance (methylamphetamines).

It is alleged he did so in February 2011 at Stowport and Launceston.

In the Supreme Court, in Burnie, yesterday, Crown prosecutor John Ransom said the case would come down to whether Mr Nichols was actually ordering methylamphetamine when he ordered ``colours'' from a Launceston-based Rebels official.If jurors were satisfied of that, Mr Ransom said, the other fundamental question would be whether Mr Nichols intended to sell at least some of the drug.

Mr Ransom said police evidence would include that an operation called Operation Dorothy led to phone tapping of certain Rebels and the word ``colours'' kept appearing.

Police became interested in what that meant and intercepted two cars, finding methylamphetamine in both.

Mr Nichols was not in either of the cars.

Mr Ransom said Mr Nichols contacted the man in Launceston and said he would need another set of colours.

He later told the man he would ``come through from the North-West'' the next day and, later, contacted the man and discussed how much money he owed.

Mr Ransom said club members had been using a code, including the word ``colours'', which police believed meant methylamphetamine.